Potty Training Mistakes to Avoid

Potty training can be a chore sometimes. But it got too be taught eventually. Here's some tips to make sure potty training do not become a hassle.

1. Don’t be unrealistic. We heard parents say that their baby was potty trained at the age of 2 without much help. Well, good for you. However, we like to emphasize that the average age for a child to understand or even start potty training between 2 and 3 years old. And it does not matters if your child is a boy or girl. There's no proof that girls or easier to train or whatsoever. Hence, be realistic. Establish your child routine and how acceptive they are to potty training. Even if your child is trained only by age 4, there's nothing to be ashamed of.


2. Don’t pin all your hopes on advice. Be prepared for lots of ideas when your toddler enters this phase. You’ll be told that diaper-free time is THE way to go. Or perhaps candy bribes. Or having your child help clean up the messes with you. Or use a special training pants will work. Unfortunately, every child is different and there’s not really a one-size-fits-all approach to potty training. So take advice for just what it is – ideas you can try out, but not perfect solutions to the problem. Just be positive and try. If a child is not ready, no matter how much you try, chances of succeeding is not high.


3. Do not buy too much stuff when you are potty training your kid. As this method might not work and the stuff deem useless.


4.Don’t forget that personality is key. A child’s temperament greatly affects the whole potty training experience. Confident, type-A (i.e. choleric) children might thrive on being given challenges or even taking dares (“Let’s see if you can keep your pants dry while you are playing this morning!”) Thoughtful and introspective toddlers who are prone to worry (i.e. melancholic) will benefit from frequent praise and encouragement and be ultra sensitive to any kind of negativity or disapproval from you. Happy-go-lucky types that flit from one thing to another (i.e. sanguine) are going to be so busy playing that potty training might become a boring, mundane interruption. So you might have to make it SUPER FUN for these free spirits! And last of all, the laid-back, careful and peace-loving (i.e. phlegmatic) children just aren’t going to see what the big rush is. Number two messes and puddles on the floor? Hmmm, not really a big deal for them. Learning to use the potty? Can we put that off another day? The slow and methodical phlegmatic needs more motivation than all the other personalities. This is the child you’ll have to kindly and gently “light a fire” underneath, or they may put it off until it’s time to go to school.


5. Don’t lose patience and don’t take it personally! They will make messes right on the floor. They will run and hide when it’s time to go. They will sit on the potty for thirty minutes and then have an accident as they walk out of the bathroom. They will miss and spray the bathroom walls, floor and furniture. They will create more dirty laundry than ten newborn babies. They will regress just when you’ve put away all their diapers and patted everyone on the back for a job well done. And when you think your patience has been tested to the limit, a few adventurous toddlers will want to put their hands in it, create art with it and quite possibly try to ingest it! So pray for patience; you’ll need loads of it. And try not to take all this personally, although it will be tempting some days to think they are doing all this to punish you for making them eat vegetables.